


Let's Have a Ball, With (Balled-Up) Feeling

by kei (knittenkitten)



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Dad Donald, Dad Goofy, Dad Mickey, During Canon, Fluff, Gay Disasters, I'm a sucker for Soriku fluff and will not be stopped, Just Kiss Already (tm), M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Canon Compliant - Kingdom Hearts III, One Shot, POV Alternating, Slow Burn, Slow Dancing, Sora Figures It Out, Unresolved Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-10-01 20:17:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20392828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knittenkitten/pseuds/kei
Summary: Sora, Donald, and Goofy are invited to a ball, and Sora knows exactly who he wants to invite.That doesn't mean Sora, or his guest, have any idea what they're doing, of course.





	Let's Have a Ball, With (Balled-Up) Feeling

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place in a made-up week off during KH3 where Sora, Donald, and Goofy are sent back to check on all the Disney worlds and everybody else does some additional training before the endgame starts.
> 
> \- does not significantly spoil KH3, but if you are spoiler-sensitive, just don't read it  
\- if you haven't played Dream Drop Distance...well, do that instead

Just as Sora went to buckle himself into the gummi ship, an envelope appeared in his lap.

"Huh? What's this?"

"It's from Queen Elsa!" "In Arendelle!" Chip and Dale squeaked.

"How'd you get this?" Sora asked, peering at the shimmery, silver envelope curiously and holding it by a corner like it was some kind of cursed object. He swung his head every which way only to find the chipmunks had left as soon as they'd appeared.

"Don't you remember they set up a mailing address in all the worlds we leave?" Donald squawked.

It all seemed like some kind of pointless magic to Sora, but he did vaguely remember the conversation.

"...oh yeah."

Sora ripped open the envelope in a way more befitting of a letter from the Queen's sister than the Queen, then pulled out the card and began to read it aloud.

"Sora, Donald, and Goofy are cordially invited to attend the Spring Celebration Ball at Arendelle Castle."

"A ball?" Donald squawked.

"Well, gawrsh, it sure was nice of Elsa to invite _us_!"

"Hmm. I've never been invited to something like this before..."

Sora stared at the bottom of the letter.

"It's this weekend, so the date works...rooms provided…and each guest may bring a 'plus one'. What's a 'plus one'?"

Donald and Goofy shot each other a knowing look - Sora _hated_ when they did that - and then Goofy grinned.

"It's an invitation to bring along somebody ya really like!"

Donald smirked.

"And we think you should bring..."

Goofy glared at Donald as he shoved his glove over his beak.

"Qwack!?"

"I told ya! It's not up to us to tell 'im that, Donald."

Sora crossed his arms as he glared at them.

"What are you talking about?"

Goofy smiled. "I think Donald thought you mighta already had a friend in mind!"

"I'm not sure why you'd make a fuss about that...but it sure would be fun to bring Riku to something for once!"

Donald let out a small cackle, putting his hands on his hips, as Goofy smiled softly.

"Well, I think that's a great idea, Sora!"

"I know it’s some kind of fancy party...but what do you do at a ball, again?"

Donald and Goofy looked at each other again, their faces dropping as they sighed.

"You dance with people! Like you did in Corona!" Donald explained.

"Oh, yeah! I remember now. Okay! That sounds like fun!" Sora exclaimed, doing a little jig with the card still in his hands. Donald and Goofy joined in.

"...but I don't think Riku would want to go to something like that..."

Sora stopped dancing abruptly and sulked. He was surprised at how much that thought disappointed him.

Goofy, as if having expected him to fret about this, softly placed his hand on Sora’s shoulder.

"I still think you should ask 'im!" Goofy insisted. "How d'ya know he doesn't want to go unless you ask him?"

"From what the King's been tellin' us -"

Glove met beak again as Donald let out a loud squawk, shaking off Goofy's interruption with a squawky _phbbt_.

Sora ignored the commotion as he considered Goofy's suggestion, staring at his Gummiphone and fidgeting around the captain’s seat.

He remembered that Riku had been put into ballet classes at the islands’ dance studio, though not through any choice of his own. While Riku normally loved showing off to Sora, he hadn’t seemed happy to be showing off his dancing to _anybody _when Sora ran into him after dance recitals. Sora was sure that he would hate the idea of a ball.

But the idea of having a stress-free, fun night with Riku was just too appealing. They’d been separated in the sleeping worlds and didn’t even get the chance to have _working _fun then (not to mention all the things that happened to Sora). It was a fact he still hadn’t wrapped his head around, but it had been _almost two years_ since they’d last had a chance to play like this. And only Riku had actually _lived_ both of those years.

…for some reason, Sora also found himself thinking about Riku in formal dress.

Having decided, Sora sat up straight, nodded and pumped his fist.

"Yeah! I'll ask him!"

"That's the spirit!" Donald quacked.

Sora placed the Gummiphone straight in front of him, turned on the screen, and decisively hit the voice call button next to the top contact on his list.

Riku's face showed up almost immediately, filling the entire frame, and his eyes were wide with worry.

"Sora? What's wrong?"

Sora grinned at the sight of his best friend.

"Nothin'! Just wondering if you'd like to go to a ball with me!"

Riku backed away from the camera as he turned tomato red.

"What!?"

So Sora _had _been right to assume that Riku would be embarrassed by the idea of dancing in public. He started rambling before he could worry about that too much.

"We got invited to a ball in Arendelle, and it said we should bring a 'plus one', and I thought it'd be fun to hang out with you! We haven’t had fun together in _forever_. Do you want to come with us?"

* * *

Riku clenched his fist, gripped the phone tightly with his other hand, and gulped, somehow managing to regain his composure.

Sora was sitting there with that big, stupid grin glued to his face, as usual.

First he'd freaked out unnecessarily because he'd assumed Sora was in trouble, and now...this.

There was no way Sora was actually asking him out on a date. Riku wasn’t even sure Sora really remembered what a ball _was_, since it was the type of thing that only showed up in the occasional storybook on the islands.

He blew out a tense sigh, put on a flat smirk, and placed his hand behind his head in a Sora-esque gesture.

“Sorry, I, uh, misheard you. Shouldn’t you be asking Kairi about something like that?”

Sora furrowed his thick brows, leaning forward and planting his fists in between his thighs. It was pretty adorable, and Riku smirked softly before he’d even realized he was doing it.

"Aww, come on, Riku! You know Kairi's busy getting some extra training in!" Sora whined.

That was actually what Riku and Mickey were supposed to be doing, too, though they were just sitting around reading at the moment. He indulged himself by not interjecting with that fact, and Sora went on.

"And I don't think she likes going out to different worlds and stuff anyway. I want to hang out with _you_!"

Riku knew he was ultimately just a more travel-savvy replacement for Kairi, either way, but he couldn’t help but smile softly at that last part. While Riku took too long considering how to respond – how to balance his desire to be with Sora and his need to keep himself from getting his hopes up - the grin on Sora's face melted as he looked down, blinking side to side and twiddling his fingers.

"...do you not want to go? I guess it's OK if you don't...I don't want to bother you or anything..." he mumbled.

Riku frowned, his fist clenching tighter as the hand holding his phone with an iron grip started to get sweaty. He had to say _something_, or he’d leave his poor friend disappointed and mopey_. _“Mopey” was a new face on Sora recently, and it was definitely not one he wanted to encourage.

For some reason, Mickey interrupted, bringing himself into the frame.

"Riku, I think we should go!"

"What?"

"Wouldn’t it be great to take a break and have a swell time before we face Master Xehanort?"

Sora grinned, nodding in that overly energetic way Riku adored.

"See? The King’s right! It'll be fun! And relaxing!"

Sora's brows furrowed again.

"And you need to relax more, okay?”

Riku sighed, loosening his grip and putting on a decisive smile for the camera.

"...okay. Let’s go to a ball."

Sora began to excitedly blab about the details.

* * *

On the day of the ball, Sora emerged from the fairies’ room dressed, albeit haphazardly, in a tuxedo.

The fabric was itchy and he could already tell he was going to sweat all night. Arendelle wouldn’t even have that bitter cold to help him out this time. Sora shifted around, smoothing his sleeves and trying to feel _some_ kind of comfortable.

“Uh, did I put this on right?”

"No, you did it all wrong!” Donald grumbled, pulling off Sora’s misshapen bowtie from the loose knot, then adjusting his misbuttoned jacket.

Sora blushed, but accepted Donald’s fussy intrusion.

“Sorry! Never worn anything fancy like this before! Should’ve asked for help!”

Goofy gave Sora a sympathetic glance.

“Ya seem a little nervous, Sora!”

And...well, Sora _did_ feel nervous.

Sora, not having bothered to pull up a visual before he’d called Riku, hadn’t fully internalized that balls were typically something you asked a romantic partner to. As soon as the fairies presented him with the formal ensemble they’d prepared, the fact had finally occurred to him, and Sora could _feel_ his face turning the color of Flora’s cape as he gulped.

(“Oh, don’t worry, you’ll look great in this!” they’d reassured him after only a couple of rounds of recoloring his bow tie, as if that was actually what Sora was worried about.)

Do people ever bring their best friends to balls? Do people ever _want_ to bring their best friends to balls? Was this why Riku freaked out? Why did Donald and Goofy convince Sora to do this? Why was Sora excited to see Riku in a tuxedo?

Goofy and Donald - hard at work fixing Sora’s mistakes - regarded him patiently as he considered how to express his anxieties, shifting his feet and huffing.

“I’m...starting to wonder if I made a mistake deciding to go to this thing. I’m gonna stick out like a sore thumb, and I mean, I’m...” Sora mumbled, looking to the side and frowning.

He was a little too embarrassed to elaborate on what he’d _really_ been thinking about.

Goofy placed a hand on Sora’s shoulder. “Aww, of course not! Ya look very handsome!”

“Now that I’ve fixed you all up!” Donald added, neatly tying Sora’s red bowtie and swishing his wings together with a flourish.

“...do I?” Sora asked, sheepishly, turning to look at the full-length mirror Yen Sid had left in his study.

He’d left his hair in its normal, messy state (he’d need a haircut to do anything else with it, and besides, it was his signature look!), and kept his precious crown necklace around his neck, but the tuxedo gave Sora a more grown-up, polished look. Sora was tired of looking so small, especially next to Riku, who’d had all the late growth spurts Sora hadn’t, and appreciated at least looking more mature. He put his hands on his hips and gave the mirror a smirk.

“Yeah! I do look pretty cool!” Sora exclaimed, doing a couple fancy steps.

“Told ya!”

“I bet Riku would be impressed!” Donald added.

Well, if Donald and Goofy were bringing that up, it must not be weird.

“...yeah! I should go show Riku!”

Sora bounded out of the door and down the stairs at a speed entirely unbefitting of his outfit, Donald quacking in surprise as he swooshed past.

* * *

Riku had just finished obsessively adjusting the buttons on his dress shirt and was now sitting in front of the vanity in the room Yen Sid had prepared for them, working deftly with his fingers to get his hair gelled back just right.

“Gosh, Riku, I’ve never seen you fuss so much over how you look!” Mickey remarked.

Mickey was wearing a suit about as naturally as he did his regular clothes. Riku momentarily wished he were so evenly shaped and bald.

Riku brushed his hands off his hair, leaving it clean and slick.

“...I probably should stop at some point, huh?”

Mickey laughed. “I wasn't saying you had to stop! I think it’s great to see you so motivated!”

“Motivated?”

Riku regarded himself in the mirror. He was pleased with the results of his fastidiousness, and he knew _exactly_ what had motivated him to be so picky. He suspected Mickey did too.

“Hmph. Yeah...I guess,” he responded, smiling softly and blushing a bit.

Suddenly, the door to the room slammed open, a figure bursting through it.

“Riku! Look at how awesome...woah!”

It was Sora, of course, and he stopped in his tracks, both physically and audibly, to point dramatically at Riku.

Riku nearly fell out of his chair, his gelled hands nearly preventing him from grabbing on to the vanity to catch his fall.

“Sora!?”

“Oops, I guess I kinda barged in on you...” Sora said, lowering his head and backing off a bit.

“N-no, it’s...it’s fine,” Riku stammered, grabbing a washcloth as his near miss reminded him to clean his hands.

Riku wasn’t sure if he was blushing, if his tuxedo was hot and stuffy, or both - and either way, he hoped Sora couldn’t tell.

“You look so cool, though!” Sora gushed, looking over Riku as if he had been told there was a lucky emblem hidden somewhere on his tuxedo, then landing on his face to give him a huge grin.

As always, Sora was oblivious to how he got Riku’s hopes up, but he was so _joyous_ about it that it was hard to be mad at him for it.

Riku regarded how well Sora had cleaned up, perfectly framed by the magically tailored suit, and gulped. He looked so handsome and mature…and yet, still the silly, slightly unkempt Sora he knew. Riku forced a gasp into a grin, scrubbing his hands to hide how flustered he was – both by the attention, and by how amazing Sora looked.

“You don’t look half bad yourself.”

“R-really? T-thanks!” Sora responded, smiling as he averted his gaze.

Riku snorted, having predicted such a response.

“What’s the matter? Still can’t take a compliment after all these years?”

Sora pouted and crossed his arms. “Yeah, yeah, you’re so much _cooler_ than me...”

The corners of Riku’s mouth curled delicately. Even if Sora would never feel the same way about him, at least he thought Riku was cool.

Mickey giggled.

“You boys sure look swell! We were just about to head out ourselves, Sora, so you arrived just in time!”

Just then, Donald and Goofy appeared, peeking through the doorframe cautiously, then stepping in.

“Looks like you’re all ready! Let's go!” Donald squawked.

“Where’s Daisy?” Mickey asked.

Donald sulked. “Said she didn’t want to get in the way of our guys' night out…”

Goofy grabbed Donald’s shoulder and grinned.

“Hyuck! Let's make it a good 'guy’s night out’, then!”

Sora beamed and offered Riku a fist, which he met with one of his own.

“Balalala!” Sora exclaimed, pulling off his fist and waving his fingers and wrist, as if they were fireworks exploding in the sky.

“…pardon me?”

Instead of responding, Sora laughed at Riku’s baffled, deadpan reaction, and the whole group soon joined in.

Riku told himself, too, that this would just be an extra-fancy guy’s night out - nothing special about it.

* * *

If Sora hadn’t been taken aback by Riku in formal dress earlier, he _definitely_ was now. Something about the way Riku had gelled his hair left Sora smiling like a dork. Not to mention that he fit in a tuxedo in a way Sora knew he’d never be able to, at least not at this rate. And Sora had to sit next to him for an _entire_ gummi ship ride.

He wondered if it was normal to not only think your best friend looked good, but also to be unable to _stop_ thinking about how good your best friend looks.

Sora tried to stare straight out into the middle distance of space instead of Riku as much as he could as he tried to process this strong _pull_ he was feeling. Especially with Mickey having taken the wheel, he couldn’t help peeking at Riku's seat occasionally.

And Sora had to admit, the way he was feeling right now, he probably would’ve tried to catch a couple of dangerous glances even if he _had_ been driving. He had no idea what this feeling was – a mix of giddy, warm, embarrassed, and inexplicably distracted.

Eventually, Sora saw through his mental fog and noticed Riku seemed to have something on his mind as well. Not just in the usual sense of him overthinking things – he was looking off to the side, his expression unsure, his fists clenched, almost as if he was nervous.

He put the strange feeling aside and frowned. He'd known he’d make Riku nervous bringing him to something like this, after all.

* * *

Donald and Goofy had insisted he take the middle left seat, but being next to Sora in a tuxedo was _torture_ for Riku.

Behind him? He could pretend like his constant glances were _actually _aimed at the right window. The space between worlds was at least mildly interesting to gaze at, after all.

But directly to his right? Riku was sure Donald and Goofy would notice if he constantly looked over at Sora, like his one-track brain was urging him to do.

He opted to look down at his thighs and slightly to the right, giving Sora little side glimpses that he hoped were subtle.

Riku thought Sora looked positively dashing in a tuxedo - like an energetic, rebellious prince. Ever since Sora had burst in on him trying to style his hair, he couldn’t help but imagine Sora reaching out his hand, beaming as he asked, “wanna dance with me?” (and really, _really_ meaning it, the way Riku wished Sora did)

Or Riku somehow working up the courage to walk up to Sora, smirking and casually putting an arm around his shoulder. “Shall we dance?”

Both impossible dreams.

Riku clenched his fists into his pants and looked out the window nearest him to clear his mind. He wasn’t sure how much more he could take of Sora getting his hopes up like this.

“Feeling OK? Nervous?” Sora said abruptly, cocking his head and frowning as he leaned over his arm rest towards Riku.

Riku jolted, then turned his head back toward Sora.

“Huh? Uh…yeah, I guess,” he threw out, unwilling to answer any follow-up questions that might’ve resulted if he’d honestly answered "not exactly”.

Riku wasn’t a big fan of crowds, but as Sora might not have known, being around large groups of unfamiliar people was something he’d had plenty of opportunities to get used to as of late. Even if he still wasn’t good at talking to them.

He doubted Sora had the intentions that would actually make Riku _nervou_s about the ball, not just flustered.

“I guess it makes sense. Didn’t have a lot of opportunities to dress up like _this_ on the islands, did we?” Sora said with a grin, pulling on his lapels and puffing out his chest with pride.

“N, no, not really,” Riku remarked, still blown away by the sight of Sora even as he put on his signature, stupid smile.

Riku began to turn back to the window, lost for words, and though he couldn’t really see Sora, he could sense him frowning and starting to sulk again.

“I’m a little tired, so I think I’m going to nap so I don’t sleep at the ball.”

“OK…” Sora groaned, tilting his head a bit and frowning. “Sleep tight?”

“Yes, sir,” he replied with a wave as he feigned exhaustion.

Riku knew he was making Sora think he hated him, but he was so terrified of letting Sora know he _loved _him in this moment that, for once, he couldn’t pretend to be sure of anything but getting himself some space.

So he closed his eyes, and, after a bit of his mind tossing and turning, managed to nap the rest of the way. As he drifted off, he noticed Sora absentmindedly playing a game on his Gummiphone, peeking at Riku every once in a while.

* * *

When they finally arrived (and Sora had jerked Riku out of his slumber with a relentless series of tugs on his jacket), Queen Elsa was at the door of the castle greeting guests.

“Why, if it isn’t Sora, Donald, and Goofy? I’m so pleased to see you could make it. And I see you brought some friends!”

“Queen Elsa, this is Riku and the K...”

Donald and Goofy glared.

“...uh, M-Mickey. They’re close friends of ours, and they help us fight the Heartless.”

“Ah, I see! Pleased to meet you, Riku and Mickey. Thankfully, the Heartless haven’t been spotted since the snow cleared up, so you should be able to celebrate with us in peace.”

Well, that fulfilled the second purpose of their visit.

Queen Elsa shook all of their hands with a graceful flourish, and soon after Anna and Kristoff ran up to meet them.

“Sora, Donald, Goofy!” Anna called with a smile, eying Sora and Riku and bringing her hands up to accentuate an excited smile. “I see _you_ brought a_ date_!”

Sora’s face flushed, and despite Riku being more than a couple inches away, Sora felt like he could also feel _Riku’s _body tensing up and fists clenching. He put his hand behind his head and grinned awkwardly.

“Oh, uh, t-this is just my best friend, Riku.”

“Eek! I’m sorry!” Anna squeaked.

Kristoff, who had kept his normal attire, minus the coat, for the ball, eyed the distance between Sora and Riku skeptically, crossed his arms, and smirked. “Oh, really? Is that it?”

Before Sora could sputter out a response, Anna huffed and bonked Kristoff on the head. “Knock it off!”

“Just callin’ it like a _love expert_,” Kristoff said with a chuckle.

Kristoff correctly judged from Sora’s steps back that he would not welcome a pat on the back, so gave him a thumbs up and a wink instead. Anna hastily apologized, then pulled Kristoff away in a gesture she turned into a whimsical dance.

Sora then noticed the King, Donald, and Goofy huddling together behind them and put his hands on his hips.

“Aww, come on! Not you guys, too!”

“Ya know, it can be a date if you two want it to be a date!” Goofy said with a chuckle.

“Nothin’ wrong with that!” Donald added.

Sora found himself briefly considering the idea – was _that _what that feeling on the gummi ship was? He took a quick peek back at Riku, but judging by his red face and stiff shoulders, he was not particularly open to broaching the topic.

Sora wrinkled his nose and clenched his fists, forcing the thought out of his head.

“Aww, come on, guys!” Sora whined. “Look at how much you’re bothering Riku!”

“Just Riku?” Donald sneered.

“Y-yeah, just me?” Riku cut in, putting a hand on Sora’s shoulder.

The setting sun was just behind Riku’s head, and it gave Riku’s silver hair and princely face an otherworldy, golden _glow_. 

It was then that Sora realized for the first time that he would very much like to kiss that face.

That he was very much in love with Riku.

That Sora _did_ want it to be a date. 

And it _devastated _him to see Riku so embarrassed by the idea.

Before he could blurt his newly understood feelings out, Sora grinned sheepishly and shrugged, and then dashed forward, quickly followed by Donald and Goofy.

* * *

Riku was _devastated_ that Sora’s only reaction to that was to point out to _everybody_ how embarrassed Riku was. He’d teased Sora about it, too, but he knew that Sora was just awkward around the topic of romance in general. It explained why he didn’t ask Kairi to this thing; why Sora threw the paopu fruit Riku had challenged him to try straight into the ocean. 

He knew at a visceral level that Sora would’ve never brought Riku here hoping for it to be a date, but he’d made the foolish mistake of letting the local lovebirds, Donald, and Goofy get his hopes back up a bit.

He hung back for a bit as Sora, Donald and Goofy scavenged the check-in table for their table number. Mickey looked up at him, then put a hand on his back.

“Let’s head in with the others!”

Riku steeled himself and nodded.

* * *

Queen Elsa opened up the night with a toast to her new subjects and the new season, and everybody began eating.

The dinner began with a simple house salad.

Sora inspected the contents carefully, immediately taking offense to the cherry tomatoes. He pulled them out of his salad and passed them to Riku, his hand out to grab them and pop them into his mouth almost as quickly as Sora picked them up.

“Maybe if Sora ate his vegetables properly he’d grow as big as Riku,” Donald whispered to Goofy, in that usual way Sora could hear anyway.

“I’m eating the rest of it!” Sora protested, stabbing his fork through the salad with a dramatic flick of his wrist and picking up a bite.

...which was just lettuce, cheese, croutons, and some onions Sora had “encouraged” to drop back onto the plate as he shoved the salad into the side of his mouth and gulped it down with a glass of water.

“You know I eat the stuff Little Chef makes, too, ‘cuz it’s good! And Riku likes tomatoes….” he mumbled.

Riku chuckled after swallowing the last tomato.

“At least he’s trying! He used to hand me _all_ of his vegetables, you know.”

Sora wrinkled his face and groaned as the others chuckled, picking at the left-behind pieces of his salad with his fork. Noticing this, Riku gave him a short, vigorous shoulder rub, a gesture Sora returned with a fond smile as he relaxed and put down his fork.

Sora knew it was just a friendly gesture, but that didn’t stop him from feeling a warm trace of the touch for a full minute after Riku’s hand left his back, or a perceptible flush from hitting his face. He had no idea how he was going to survive suddenly being conscious of these feelings. 

The waiters arrived to carry away their salad plates and replace them with dinner. Sora saw that Riku almost too hastily moved his glance to the platter of open sandwiches, which were covered with salmon, egg, and an array of cheese and vegetables, and immediately got to putting one on his plate.

In the meantime, Sora noticed Donald, Goofy, and the King’s glancing and chuckling at the two of them. Sora realized that they _had_ to have noticed Sora’s obvious crush. After copying Riku, he swung a huge gulp of ice water into his mouth in a futile attempt to remove the flush from his face, shuffled the tomato from his sandwich over to Riku’s plate, and began cutting into it.

The King laughed.

“I probably should’ve mentioned this earlier, but you’ve got your forks in the wrong hands.”

“Really? Oops!” Sora and Riku said simultaneously, stiffening and dropping their forks as a different kind of mortification flushed their faces.

“It’s fine! You don’t look like the only ones,” the King reassured them, as he demonstrated the proper local usage of a fork.

Sora, while not sure how the King always knew all this stuff, was thankful for the change of subject, and concentrated earnestly on using his fork in his left hand.

The night was long and full of numerous toasts that continued until well after they’d finished their meals, which Kristoff, the guest of honor, wrapped up with an amusing story about him and Anna escaping wolves in a sled.

Soon after, an orchestra played a lively little jig, and people started to gather on the dance floor.

“I bet you young’uns can’t wait to get out there and dance!” Goofy said with a chuckle.

Sora observed Riku, who was looking with the same stiff posture and far-off look he’d seen on the gummi ship.

“I dunno…” Sora, scraping up some small chunks of cake he’d left on his messy plate. “We can always just grab some more cake and talk for a while, right, Riku?”

He peeked over at Riku again, who was still sitting stiff as a board, his fists grasping his pants.

Just a couple beats too late, he turned to Sora and responded “yeah, uh, sure,” before looking back out at nothing in particular.

Sora frowned and sighed. He knew now what was up with him, but he wasn’t sure what _Riku’s _problem was. Did crowds of dancing people he didn’t know really make him _that_ nervous?

The King leaned toward Sora and put his hand to his mouth.

“I think he’s thinkin’ about going out there and dancing, Sora.”

“Really? Because _I_ think he wants to leave,” Sora responded, putting his own hand to his mouth and matching the King’s loud whisper, keeping an eye on a still-distant Riku.

“You were so excited to have fun with ‘im earlier, Sora!” Goofy added. “Don’t give up!”

“Go and dance already!” Donald quacked.

“I _really_ don’t think he wants to, though,” Sora hissed, their hands up to their faces now forming a strange huddle in the middle of the table.

Goofy put his other hand on Sora’s shoulder.

“There’s no way he wouldn’t want to dance with you, Sora! We’re talkin’ about the guy who changed his entire form to help ya!”

The King peeked over at Riku, then smiled at Sora.

“He’s probably just a bit nervous after being alone for so long! I’m sure he’d love it if you pulled him out of his shell!”

“Hmm…” Sora mumbled, biting his lip and tilting his head back out of their makeshift air huddle.

Riku’s mind certainly did seem to be _somewhere_, much as it had seemed when Sora had frequently spotted him staring out at the ocean as they’d built the raft (a relatively new habit Sora had unsuccessfully tried to investigate). 

But he’d always been able to coax Riku out of those strange moods and into something fun _eventually_, and if the King thought Sora would be successful, he was probably right.

Sora pumped his fist. 

“OK!”

Donald, Goofy, and the King gave him an enthusiastic, simultaneous nod as they broke the huddle.

Sora abruptly kicked his chair back, which made a shrill noise that shook Riku out of his stupor.

* * *

Just as quickly as he’d snapped Riku out of fuzzy dreams of dancing with him, Sora appeared in front of Riku, a thin but soft smile on his face, and he reached out his hand.

“W...wanna dance with me?”

It was exactly like that scene Riku had told himself was impossible, the one he had dreamed up on the gummi ship. The lights on the chandeliers shone brilliantly behind Sora, leaving him practically glowing, and reflected off his stunningly blue eyes. Riku’s living, breathing light actually carrying out the scenario he’d momentarily allowed himself to yearn for left him stunned, an awed gasp escaping his mouth before he quickly gathered the sliver of mental presence required to press his lips back together, firmly.

“I, I...” Riku stammered, balling up his fists in his jacket and looking at anything but what he wanted most in the world.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sora’s shoulders drop dramatically. Riku looked up almost instinctually at the sign of his friend’s disappointment, releasing one of his fists and beginning to raise it to reach out to Sora. Even if he'd never take the opportunity, Riku was driven nonetheless to chase it – to pretend like it would last, and all the wonderful things it would entail would happen for Riku without the need for him to actually _take_ it.

Suddenly, after glancing at Mickey, Donald, and Mickey, furrowing his eyebrows, huffing, and snapping his hands to his hips, Sora sprung back to life, bending down to bring his head in front of Riku’s.

“I’ll have you know I’m a _very good dancer_. I made all kinds of munny doing fancy routines on barrels.”

He stepped back and mimed doing cartwheels as well as he could with a tuxedo on.

“I delighted the citizens of Corona.”

Sora did a little jig in the style of the dances he'd done with Rapunzel and the others, then turned toward Riku and grinned in that adorable way he always did when he was showing off, holding out his hand again.

“And _you _are going to learn how to dance and have fun with me for once, got it? It’s been, what, two whole years!?”

Riku smiled despite himself, stifling a laugh, the over-the-top display having been so utterly _Sora_.

Of course, he already knew very well how to dance. In fact, Riku had attended _six years_ of ballet lessons. He was not sure how such a prominent feature of his childhood had managed to slip Sora’s mind.

But he’d rather Sora think _that_ was what had left him speechless, and he knew Sora just wanted to show off again, so, for once, he chose to gulp down his snark.

“OK, if you insist,” Riku responded, wiping his sweaty palms on his jacket one last time and abruptly grabbing Sora’s hand with a smirk and a pull as Riku rose out of his seat. It was a conscious effort to imitate the dynamic they’d had before _these feelings _messed everything up, and he even managed not to release the squeaky noise he felt rising straight up his throat.

"Woah!” Sora yelped, almost tripping as he hastily repositioned his feet to catch Riku’s pull.

“What’s the matter, Sora? Thought you were a good dancer.”

Sora groaned, pushing Riku’s other shoulder and running forward.

Riku couldn’t hear the peanut gallery’s reactions - nor did they matter, whatever they were.

* * *

Sora knew Riku didn’t _really _want to dance with him, let alone dance at all, but at least he was enough of a good friend to humor him.

Even if Sora wanted him to be _more_ than a good friend.

So when Riku pulled on his wrist, he felt his heart leap out of his chest. The confidence Donald, Goofy, and the King had given him melted into a big blob of nervous, mushy _feelings_ again.

He redirected the rush of emotions into pushing Riku back with his other hand, running to the dance floor in front of Riku _and_ the rush of his feelings.

“Woah, where do you think you’re going?” Riku said with a hiss, Sora smirking when he saw Riku almost tripping over himself.

“Speed _is_ the mark of a good dancer. And since when can you not keep up with me?” Sora challenged, continuing at the exact same pace.

* * *

Riku knew the answer to that question: “Since everything you did started to leave me speechless.”

And he also wasn’t so sure that the kind of speed associated with running had _anything_ to do with dancing well.

But he left it unspoken and intentionally slogged along as he enjoyed watching Sora run out in front of him and put a ridiculous amount of energy into pulling Riku along.

Just as they reached the dance floor, the orchestra completed the jig and switched to a slower, more romantic tune. A waltz.

Sora looked down and to the side, his face pink - from exertion, Riku figured - and his smile a pained wrinkle.

Riku _tried_ to smirk at how tired Sora had made himself, but instead, his eyes looked down blankly, bemused by the sudden change in tone.

They stood there for a couple measures, Riku clenching his fists and Sora biting his lip.

“...bet you don’t know how this one goes,” Riku finally offered.

Sora glanced up at Riku and pressed his lips together.

“It’s true I haven’t done a lot of slow dancing…”

His blue eyes were now staring straight at Riku’s, and he lifted his right arm.

“…but I do know you start off like this,” Sora started off after a brief pause.

A small gasp escaped Riku’s lips as Sora grabbed Riku’s left hand with his right. With a bit of hesitance Sora expressed by flicking his wrist upwards, he put his left hand on Riku’s other wrist and guided it to his waist.

“Surprised? I _did_ say I’d show you how to dance.”

Riku choked on his next breath, making an audible, embarrassing sound, and as Sora removed his left hand to move it to Riku’s shoulder, Riku quickly curled up his fingers into a fist that was scarcely grasping Sora’s jacket, let alone touching his waist. Sora curled his lips and looked at Riku’s chest, Riku briefly fearing, yet hoping, that Sora would try to bury himself in it, as if they were the lovers songs and dances like this were made for.

“Y, you don’t have to hold on there if you don’t want to, y’know?” Sora mumbled.

Seeing that Sora wasn’t _hating_ this like Riku had expected was enough for Riku to relax his fist into a hold, and he shook his head gently. It sent a jolt of electricity up his arm that quickly settled into a warm, pleasant glow. A smile naturally came to his face as Sora looked back up at him, his eyebrows raised as he apparently choked on a breath of his own.

“Hey, weren’t you going to show me what to do?” he responded, cocking his head and smirking.

“Oh, I will!” Sora assured him, grinning as he began to step to the slow beat of music, carefully pressing on Riku’s hand and shoulder to guide him into the lead role. As warm as Riku felt, and despite the jolt he felt every time Sora gently motioned him around, that Sora was leading him made it comfortable.

Riku let himself enjoy being led as his old sense of rhythm quickly came back to him. As promised, Sora wasn’t half-bad at dancing – he knew the basic form, and he knew how to keep a beat. But with his courage growing looking at Sora’s smile, he was starting to think it was time to show off his _own_ rarely-used dancing skills.

* * *

Sora wanted desperately for this to mean to Riku what it did to him. He couldn’t believe that the same night he had first realized he was in love, the object of his affections was cradling his waist and holding his hand, as Sora guided him through a slow dance to the tune of an incredibly romantic waltz.

He felt warm and giddy all over, and seeing that Riku was smiling now filled him with more energy and confidence than he’d ever had before.

“A-and then, you can spin me around, like...”

“Yeah, I know.” Riku cut Sora off, using his advantageous position as the lead to take control of the dance, gripping Sora’s hand and waist tightly as Riku masterfully pulled the maneuver on his own, ending both the twirl and the catch cleanly with his heels pressed together and his feet pointed outwards.

And then Riku put on his stupid, confident, _enticing _grin.

“You seriously didn’t remember I had dance lessons?” he asked with a chuckle, his voice feigning innocence of his _criminal_ teasing.

“Y, yeah, but not, like..._fun_ dancing lessons,” Sora eventually mumbled, his heartbeat quickened by the unexpected, deft twirl.

“But ballet makes slow dancing more fun,” he murmured, meeting Sora’s eyes with half-lidded teal eyes and smiling.

Sora relaxed into Riku’s lead and let out his energy in awed, shuddering breaths.

“Let me show you another little something…”

Sora hadn’t heard Riku this kind and sincere since he’d dreamed whispers of the _wonderful_ things he’d said during his deep slumber. He feared that, for once, _he’d_ be the one to lose a staring contest, his heart going _thump-thump_ as Riku suddenly moved his left hand up Sora’s arm. The slide of his hand sent a shiver up his arm and down his spine, as Riku eventually landed on Sora’s upper back, coaxing Sora forward into a deep dip.

“Woah!” he squeaked, the shiver spreading to his face and turning it hot and red.

“Now how’s that?” Riku slipped out through a smirk.

All Sora could do was stare blankly, his mouth dry and agape as his eyes took in the sight of Riku, who was staring straight back at him, once again haloed and radiant, this time by the bright lights coming from the chandeliers.

It was all just a bit _too much_, and he could hardly believe this was real. Sora snapped his eyes shut and puffed his cheeks as Riku finally pulled him back in, holding in an imminent, overly bright smile until he could dive his head into Riku’s chest.

Riku wanted desperately for this to mean to Sora what it did to him.

Especially when Sora suddenly lowered his head onto Riku’s shoulders, taking a deep breath and slipping his left hand around Riku’s back when he landed. Warmth spread through Riku’s entire body, and he was momentarily lost for words, glad that Sora couldn’t see his face right now.

“That was pretty cool, I guess,” he mumbled into Riku’s jacket, pressing his forehead in apparent embarrassment.

He’d kept his hand on Sora’s upper back, and he couldn’t help but use it to pull Sora in just a little tighter.

“I guess that makes it 1-0, then?”

Sora responded to the hug by returning it almost too strongly, wiggling himself into Riku’s chest.

“Aww, I have no idea how to beat _that_…why are you so good at everything!?” he moaned, kicking his legs as he leaned even further into Riku, almost throwing him off-balance.

It killed the dancing mood a bit, but it was so characteristically _Sora_ that Riku couldn’t bring himself to mind, and he rested his chin on Sora’s fidgeting head, which elicited another grumbling noise. Riku allowed the idea that this _did_ mean to Sora what it did to him to enter his head, and it drew him to shift his hand up to stroke Sora’s head through his soft, fluffy hair.

“Because you never count the things _you’re_ good at the way I do,” he sighed, his admiration completely uninhibited.

“Huh?” Sora blurted out, putting his chin to Riku’s chest and peeking up at his face.

“Sora, you’re…” Riku started, catching himself before he gushed at Sora just like he had been allowing him to gush about him to _everybody else_ by abruptly jerking himself back a bit.

Sora pulled Riku back in, his fists clenching on Riku’s jacket, and shifted his head up so their eyes met. Sora’s blue eyes were shining, an earnest smile on his face, and Riku felt a clear determination to _say something for himself _that somehow completely ignored how Riku had trailed off.

Riku gulped as the stare and smile continued to hold.

“…Riku…I…” Sora began, his voice quivering.

It was no longer _just_ an idea, and Riku hated himself for allowing that thought.

* * *

Before Sora could gather up the words to continue, Riku sighed.

“I...I can’t do this anymore, Sora. Sorry,” he murmured, pulling himself fully out of Sora’s grasp.

“Do _what_?” Sora asked, his voice cracking on an edge of frustration as he reached out after Riku.

“I…I just need to be alone for a bit,” he said, his lips pressed together as he looked back, pained, and

“Wait! Why!? I…I was just about…”

Sora’s voice drifted off to nothing as Riku flat-out absconded from the dance floor.

* * *

Riku knew he was upsetting his best friend.

And he knew _even Sora_ would probably figure it out any day now – if not by himself, then with the help of their friends. 

Riku knew how much that would hurt the both of him.

And he had been _stupid _to let his careful façade break like that.

He knew that Sora was either about to let him down _way too gently_, or, even worse, to go along with Riku’s emotions without Riku even asking, pretending like he felt even a fraction of what Riku felt about him just so that he could make his best friend happy.

There was no way Sora would ever feel the same way, and he couldn’t believe he’d almost coaxed Sora into thinking that he had to.

He saw Mickey, who must have been watching the two dancing, running up to him.

“Are you OK?”

Riku sighed, smiling slightly at the sight of his trusted friend.

“...yeah.”

“It doesn’t look like you’re OK,” Mickey noted, scrutinizing Riku’s face.

“Guess I can’t blame you for not believing me, huh?” he replied, chuckling.

Mickey frowned, putting an arm on Riku’s.

“Can I ask what happened?”

“Nothing really. Just thought I’d leave before something did.” he said, turning away from Mickey.

Riku knew that Mickey knew, and he wasn’t going to pretend like he didn’t, but he also didn’t particularly feel like _talking _about it like this.

“You really gotta stop running away from your friends, Riku. Sora cares about you a whole lot! He was so worried about you when you were sitting at the table staring off into space.”

Riku gritted his teeth.

“I know. But this is different.”

“But how do you know that?” Mickey practically demanded, putting his eyes in sight of Riku’s.

Riku clenched his fists and turned away again.

“I just do, OK.”

Mickey put his face in front of Riku’s again, this time with his eyes upturned gently.

“You sure about that?”

“Yup.”

Mickey sighed.

“Well…as long as you’re sure, I can walk you back to your room if you’d like.”

Riku looked down at his friend and forced out a smile.

“Yeah, thanks.”

He forced himself not to look back at Sora as Mickey led him to the hotel where Arendelle was lodging guests.

* * *

The very same night he’d first discovered _infatuation_, Sora discovered _heartbreak_.

The warm feeling of holding (and being held by) Riku, the anticipation of looking in his eyes and preparing the words, and

He kept his hand reached out, limply, allowing himself to pretend for a couple of seconds that Riku wasn’t completely dead set on getting away from Sora, and gazed blankly.

Sora saw the King start to run off after Riku out of the corner of his eye as he looked back at his own friends, defeated.

“What’s the matter, Sora?” Goofy asked

“...it’s nothing,” he said, hanging his shoulders down and pouting.

“Well it sure doesn’t look like nothing!” Donald squawked, worried and not chiding for once.

“If ya wanna talk about it, we’re here for ya!”

“I...I dunno...”

Sora’s already watery eyes started to overflow and sting a bit, so he raised a hand up to wipe the tears before they could drop down.

Donald squawked sympathetically as he stared at Goofy, and the two then simultaneously looked toward where the King had run after Riku.

“Maybe ya should go talk to him, Sora!”

Sora frowned, his eyes downcast and still a little moist.

“He, he suddenly said…that he wanted to be alone.”

“I’ll show him ‘alone’!” Donald grumbled, beginning to stomp toward where Riku and the King where talking.

Goofy shook his head gently and pulled Donald back by the neck of his jacket.

“Well, the music’s still playin’, Sora!” Goofy said. “This one sounds a lot like the music they played in Corona! Wanna dance with us?”

“Gotta build up some happy thoughts so the gummi ship can take off tomorrow!” Donald added.

Sora half-smiled and looked at his friends thankfully as Goofy put his hands in Sora and Donald’s. He wiped his eyes one more time.

“...yeah, OK!”

They ran off to the dance floor and danced a little circle jig, Sora enthusiastically participating and showing off a bit as the dance floor shifted to a group dance.

But as much as he enjoyed this distraction, Sora couldn’t take his mind off of how Riku had abruptly run off…right as Sora was about to share his revelation about how he felt about him.

He _had _to know why he’d done that.

Did he realize what Sora was about to say and feel uncomfortable?

Was he embarrassed again that he’d be mistaken for Sora’s date?

Did he hate being seen dancing around so many people, just as Sora had feared?

Or - a thought that made his heart beat almost as fast as it had when Riku had looked at Sora after guiding him into his arms - did Riku feel the same way and not want Sora to know?

Most of all, hopes and dreams aside, Sora was worried about his best friend, and he wanted to make sure he righted any wrongs he’d done.

When they finally left and set off into their respective rooms for the night, Sora texted the King and asked him where Riku’s room was. After he got a response (a smiley face attached), he changed into a pair of fancy silk pajamas that had been left hanging in the closet, grabbed a pillow, and set off to check on Riku.

* * *

Riku had allowed his frustration to mostly simmer away with a shower and a change of clothes.

Despite this, he was curled up on the bed, trying to sleep, but only managing an overthinking _farce_ of trying to sleep.

He rose immediately to swing the door open when he heard a knock on the door of his hotel room, almost as if he’d been expecting it – exactly as if he’d been hoping for it.

“Hey,” Sora said, hugging a pillow loosely with his left arm, grinning a bit bashfully.

“...hey yourself,” Riku responded, surprised by how _natural_ this incursion felt to him.

They exchanged a short gaze that felt like it lasted an entire minute, the wordless exchange granting permission to Sora to walk in far enough to allow Riku to close the door behind him.

“Can’t sleep. You?” Sora asked.

Riku shrugged and nodded, looking away from Sora, as if it were somehow improper to look at Sora in his silk pajamas. Of course, though it had been a while, they’d had sleepovers all the time, and those fancy all-season hotel pajamas were more than the tank and shorts Riku was wearing, and that Sora had always worn at those sleepovers.

He motioned toward the room, and, without a single word, they sat back to back on the king-sized bed, Sora hugging his knees and the pillow he’d brought. Any contact with Sora felt unnaturally warm to Riku, but back-to-back was how they always sat when they talked after a fight, and it felt familiar enough that Riku wasn’t bothered by it.

“…I know you said you wanted to be left alone, but…it’s OK if I sleep over, right?”

“I let you in, didn’t I?”

Riku felt Sora relax against his back, shuffling his arms a bit.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Sora sighed.

“Umm, I’m sorry I brought you to this thing.”

Riku tipped his head back slightly.

“Why?”

Sora lowered his face into the pillow, muffling his voice.

“...I didn’t know you hated dancing in public so much, and I shouldn’t have made you do it. We’ve got important things to do and all…”

Of course Sora would assume that was why he’d left. Riku looked up at the ceiling, half-expecting the glow-in-the-dark stars that had spotted the ceiling of his room on the islands to be up there for him to gaze at, just as they had been back when they’d talked until the sun came up at their sleepovers. He closed his eyes, imagining they were back there, imagining that everything was _simple_ again, and smiled.

“I don’t hate dancing, Sora.”

“Huh?”

In lieu of responding to Sora’s standard brash utterance, Riku snorted.

Unsatisfied, Sora pushed his back into Riku’s back, trying his hardest to throw him off somehow. 

“Then…ngh…why did you say you wanted to be alone?”

While initially caught off-guard, Riku’s larger core kept him grounded, and he hooked Sora’s arms with his own, pulling his almost comically smaller arms still against his back.

“It’s a secret.”

“You can’t keep a secret from your best friend!” Sora whined, wriggling his arms free from Riku’s grip, then throwing the pillow back at Riku, slamming his fists down in front of him and leaning into his knees.

“Sure about that?” Riku quipped, snickering again at Sora’s pitiful attempt at horseplay.

Sora relaxed back against Riku after hesitating for a bit.

“…do you not like dancing with me?” he asked, his voice soft as he leaned his head down and to the side.

Riku thought carefully about how to respond.

“On balance, I guess I don’t mind it.”

He felt Sora’s head pop up and tilt back.

“On balance? With what?”

Riku hesitated, then turned around enough for Sora to see him smirk.

“Having to look at that stupid, sappy face you make when you dance with me, of course.”

Sora made a squeaky noise, then groaned, stomp-crawling around Riku’s back and planting his fists in front of Riku’s knees.

“I may be kind of dumb sometimes, but even _I_ know that’s not it. Also, you’re one to talk calling _my_ face sappy, mister ‘now how’s that?’. So can you cut the snark and tell me why you ran off?”

Riku’s breath caught in his throat, and backed off and gazed at Sora, overwhelmed by his sudden ramble.

“I…I was actually pretty upset, you know,” Sora added after a pause, biting his lip and looking at the wall.

Once again, he found himself taken aback by Sora’s ability to just _say_ what he was thinking. Riku sighed, allowing himself a quick break to process all this.

“Sorry. And y…you’re not dumb, OK?”

Sora furrowed his brows and leaned in even closer, crossing his arms.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, but if you think you can distract me with another pep talk, I’m not sure I believe you actually think that.”

Sora leaned back abruptly and puffed his cheeks out when Riku’s breath hit his face, and Riku chuckled.

“What’s the matter? Did I not get the salmon out of my breath?”

“No…I just…”

A ridiculously earnest smile suddenly appeared on Sora’s face. He glanced down briefly and gulped.

“What I was about to say back there is…”

His eyes met Riku’s briefly, _wonderfully_, _sincerely_, and his hands shifted forward so that they were next to Riku’s knees.

“I think I might be in love with you, Riku.”

“W-what?” Riku yelped.

Riku took a deep, audible breath and clenched his fists.

“D…does that have something to do with it?” Sora asked, his hand shaking as he lifted one of his hands to grasp Riku’s shoulder.

“Sora, I…”

Riku felt hot tears forming at the corner of his eye, and for the first time in far, far too long, he let them fall as he abruptly leaned down and buried his head in Sora’s shoulder, his arms falling around Sora’s back and holding him tight.

“I love you so, _so_ much, Sora,” he finally confessed; finally let out the breath he’d been holding for so, _so_ long.

Sora gasped, hugging Riku as those hot tears turned into a sob.

“And I was..so afraid, so confused, s…so…”

Riku felt a trace of tears on his chest just as Sora stood up high on his knees and worked his hands up to cup Riku’s cheeks. The feeling of Sora’s thumbs stroking away his tears made Riku simultaneously whine, smile, and sob even harder. 

Here he was acting like a total blithering clown when all of his dreams were coming true right in front of him, making _Sora_ cry along with him (though he could barely see through all the tears).

“I’m sorry…” he sniveled.

“H-hey, it’s OK,” Sora whimpered, pulling Riku’s face so that their foreheads touched. Riku hummed, the sobbing subsiding as he was sated by Sora’s warm hands on his cheeks.

“I..I’m just so happy, so…relieved that you feel the same way,” he stammered.

“Yeah, I…I’ve never seen you cry before, Riku.”

“F-first time for a lot of things, I guess…” Riku whispered, bringing his hands up to meet Sora’s cheeks and wipe away the last of _his_tears.

They both let out nervous, shaky breaths. Sora’s lips parted slightly, a motion Riku’s lips instinctually imitated, and he leaned in his face ever so slightly more to bring the tips of their noses together.

“Speaking of firsts…can I…” he whispered.

“Yes,” Riku answered quickly and decisively, closing his eyes and tilting his face.

It was Sora who made the motion to bring their lips together. Riku hummed blissfully, and Sora responded with a noise of his own – it was warm, soft, and slightly wet, and it sent a warm pulse of _joy_ and _feeling_ through his body, his hands on Sora’s face shaking. It was _wonderful_ and it was _perfect_ and it was_ too much_, so he lowered his hands to Sora’s chest and pulled back, kissing him back quickly and softly as their faces separated.

Sora whimpered and looked up at Riku with wide, wet eyes, and his hands (which Riku had also felt begin to shake against his cheeks) dropped to grasp Riku’s.

They enjoyed the moment - a, _peaceful, safe_ silence, unlike the awkward silences that had peppered the entire night – as they gazed into each other’s eyes, letting the _too much_ dissipate out through their joined hands.

Sora gently pulled Riku’s right hand down to the bed and stroked it with his thumb, moving his right hand over to Riku’s left arm to stroke it gently.

Riku stroked Sora’s hand back and sighed.

"How long?” Riku asked.

“Hmm…I dunno. I guess I just realized it tonight?”

“Tonight!?” Riku blurted, his eyes and mouth opening wide.

“Hey! Unlike _some_ people, I don’t spend all my time overthinking everything, and it’s not like we see each other that much, so how was I supposed to know?” Sora rambled, grabbing the arm he’d been stroking tightly.

Riku put the hand that wasn’t joined with Sora’s on Sora’s shoulder and stroked his thumb across the bone.

“It’s alright. I’m the fool who’s felt like this since he was five years old.”

“Since you were _five_!?” Sora responded in turn, as if mocking Riku’s earlier response.

“Yeah, pretty silly, huh?” Riku chuckled.

He sighed, the relief of years of emotions pouring out of him covering his body like a warm, weighted blanket.

“Well, it’s not like I realized it until a couple years ago, but…it’s true.”

Sora pressed his lips together and lightened his grip, his expression _impossibly_ soft.

“Yeah. I mean…it might’ve been that long for me too, you know?”

Riku moved his hand up into Sora’s hair to gently caress his head, and Sora closed his eyes and hummed.

“I wanted nothing more than to dance with you tonight, and I’m glad I let myself for a little bit,” Riku confessed. “You looked amazing in that tuxedo.”

Sora blushed and pressed his head into Riku’s chest, scrunching up his shoulders.

“S- says the coolest guy ever!” Sora blurted out, “Do you have any idea how cool you looked? How much I’ve _always_ looked up to you?”

Overwhelmed, Sora pulled back and crossed his arms. Riku’s face turned bright red, just as it had when Sora had asked him to a ball over the phone. Sora returned from his own battle with being flustered attempting to start a staring contest, which Riku responded to by burying his head in his shoulder.

Sora narrowed his eyebrows and grinned, leaning in closer to Riku and apparently enjoying the way he whimpered in response.

“Not so _cool_ now, though, huh?”

Sora slapped his hand on Riku’s head and rubbed his soft, silver hair vigorously, showing off an impish, toothy grin.

Riku giggled – when was the last time he did _that_? - eventually managing to shove Sora’s hand off his head.

“You’re a gremlin, you know that?” he snarled.

“And now I’m _your_ gremlin! You’re stuck with me!” Sora declared, putting his hands on his hips.

Sora went to lean into Riku’s face and get him flustered again, but Riku thwarted him by swinging his arm around Sora’s back and shoving him into his chest.

“You can’t use your height like that! You cheater!” Sora protested into Riku’s shoulder.

“Well, if you’d just eat your tomatoes, then maybe you’d have a chance at meeting me up here,” Riku suggested, patting Sora on the back, perhaps a bit patronizing.

“That has nothing to do with it!” Sora whined, unabashedly rubbing his face into Riku’s shoulder as he squeezed Riku as hard as he could.

Riku leaned forward and pressed his head to the side of Sora’s.

“Either way, I love you just the way you are,” he whispered.

Sora’s grip on Riku softened, and he looked up at him, their lips naturally coming together once again.

They both pulled back quickly, shaking and making humming noises before they eventually both laid down on the bed. Sora landed behind Riku’s back, a couple inches apart but close enough for Riku to feel the pleasant shadow of Sora’s presence.

After a minute or so, Sora put his chin on Riku’s shoulder and dropped his arm casually around Riku’s chest.

“Want to go to one of these again? When everything’s over, I mean,” Sora murmured, Riku feeling the comfort of Sora's smile as his cheeks sunk down blissfully onto Riku’s neck.

Riku pulled up his bottom arm to embrace Sora’s arm, and he nuzzled his jaw against Sora’s soft cheeks.

After a moment, he sighed contentedly, rolling his head over to give Sora a light kiss on the chin.

“Yeah. I’d like that.”


End file.
